Across Europe, Anti-Uber Protests Clog City Streets

A taxi precedes demonstrators during a protest against Uber in Barcelona on Wednesday. A conventional taxi license in Spain can cost 137,000 euros ($185,400), making competition from services like Uber a major financial issue.

About 1,000 taxi drivers were expected during the protest Wednesday in Berlin. Here, demonstrators gather near Olympia Stadium.

Sean Gallup
/ Getty Images

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Originally published on June 11, 2014 5:24 pm

In capital cities across Europe, taxi drivers took to the streets without passengers Wednesday afternoon. They slowed to a snail's pace in what Parisians called "Operation Escargot." Horns blared around Trafalgar Square in London. In Berlin, taxis massed at the Central Station. All to protest the smartphone app Uber.

"We've opened Frankfurt last week, we've opened Lille in France, which is our third city this week. We opened Barcelona a couple weeks ago, and there's many more cities to go," Uber's Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty says.

Gore-Coty is Uber's general manager for Western and Northern Europe. He estimates that the company's European fleet is doubling in size every six months, with a presence in 20 European cities already.

"Finally seeing some sort of competition coming to the market is something that is new," he says. "And even on the protest today, what I'm seeing is taxis are trying to bring cities to a standstill, while Uber is focused on helping as many people as possible move around cities."

For drivers of London's iconic black taxi cabs, Uber seems to pose an existential threat. Eddie Tresida spent two years studying for "The Knowledge," the famously difficult test that requires prospective drivers to memorize every street in London before they can drive a black cab.

"Other drivers it takes three, four years. All depends how hard you work at it," says Tresida. "If you want to be a taxi driver, then do the same as what I've done. It's hard for two years. You go without things. You have to sacrifice things in your life. But if you want to be a taxi driver, this is the best taxi service in the world."

Twelve-thousand drivers were expected to participate in the London protest. In Berlin, the demonstration was smaller, with only some 1,000 drivers expected. But the sentiment was just as intense.

Uber insists that it is safer than traditional taxi services, since passengers can immediately evaluate drivers and provide feedback via the app.

In Madrid, the complaint from many drivers had more to do with finances.

"After three years, I bought my license for 137,000 euros ($185,400)," says taxi driver Maria Eugenia Hernaz. "It's more than my house! So I need work, and I have to work 16 hours a day to do it."

Many cab drivers argue that Uber should be forced to follow the same licensing and fare rules as taxis. Uber believes those rules should not apply, because the company says it is more like a car-hire service.

"You know, it happens all the time that new innovations take opportunities that had been the realm of incumbents," says Ben Edelman of Harvard Business School. But he argues that Uber is taking some important shortcuts.

"If there's a medallion to be purchased, they're not purchasing it. If there's commercial driver's insurance, not that either. If there's a commercial driver's license — you got it — no," says Edelman.

Whether that is legal or not is a matter of dispute. In London, the high court has agreed to rule on the matter.

Additional reporting by Eleanor Beardsley in Paris, Lauren Frayer in Madrid, Soraya Sarhaddi-Nelson and Esme Nicholson in Berlin, and Elise Hu in Washington.

Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

The drivers of London's iconic black taxicabs are worried they'll be driven out of business. The same concern is rattling cabbies across Europe. And today, drivers in several capital cities took to the streets in protest. The threat is one that's familiar to some American cabbies - car services like Uber that let you book a ride with your cell phone. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports.

ARI SHAPIRO, BYLINE: One of the hardest tests a Londoner will ever take is called simply, the knowledge. To pass, you need a roadmap of London in your head. Nobody gets to drive a black taxi without the knowledge.

EDDIE TRESIDA: I mean to me, personally, it took me two years. I mean, other drivers it takes three or four years, depends how hard you work at it.

SHAPIRO: Cab driver, Eddie Tresida, is disturbed that after all his work, an Uber driver with GPS can sweep in and undercut his business.

TRESIDA: If you want to be a taxi driver, then do the same as what I've done. It's hard, for two years, you know, you go without things and you have to sacrifice things in your life. But if you want to be a taxi driver, this is the best taxi service in the world, then that's what you have to do.

SHAPIRO: Uber now operates in 20 European cities. It is doubling in size every six months, according to Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty. He's Uber's general manager for Western and Northern Europe.

PIERRE-DIMITRI GORE-COTY: We've opened Frankfurt last week. We've opened Lille in France, which is our third city this week. We've opened Barcelona a couple of weeks ago, and there's many more cities to go.

SHAPIRO: He argues that his company is simply responding to consumer demand. Unlike with many taxis, Uber passengers can pay by credit card, order a ride by cell phone and rate their drivers.

GORE-COTY: And so finally, seeing some sort of competition coming to the market is something that's new. And even on the protest today, what I'm seeing is taxis are trying to bring cities to a standstill while on the opposite, Uber is focused to kind of help as many people as possible move around cities.

(HONKING)

SHAPIRO: The protests began in the early afternoon in major cities all across Europe. In France, they called it operation escargot. Taxi drivers inched along at a snail's pace, refusing to take passengers. In Germany, 64-year-old Barbara Novak joined other cabbies at Berlin's central station for their slow-drive protest across the city.

(German spoken)

SHAPIRO: These apps don't offer proper, decent, quality transportation, she says. Climb it's one of those and you might as well say, mug me. In Madrid, cabbies complained that they paid a fortune for a taxi license, only to be undercut by Uber drivers. Maria Eugenia Hernaz is 37 years old.

MARIA EUGENIA HERNAZ: After three years, I bought my own license -137,000 euros. It's more than my house. So I need work and I have to work 16 hours per day to do it.

SHAPIRO: Many cabdrivers argue that Uber should be forced to follow the same licensing and fare rules as taxis. Uber believes those rules should not apply because the company says Uber is more like a car hire service. Ben Edelman of Harvard Business School says new innovations replace old companies all the time, but he says Uber is taking some important shortcuts.

BEN EDELMAN: If there's a medallion to be purchased, they're not purchasing it. If there's commercial driver's insurance to be purchased, again, nope they're not doing that either. Getting a commercial driver's license - you got it, no.

SHAPIRO: In London, the High Court has agreed to rule on the matter. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, London.